The Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets Lauds the European Commission’s Investigation Into Google’s Anticompetitive Search Conduct
Washington, D.C. – Dr. Courtney C. Radsch, Director of the Center for Journalism & Liberty at Open Markets Institute issued the following statement regarding the European Commission’s investigation under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) into anticompetitive conduct by Google, which appears to be using its monopoly control of search and visibility to discriminate against news publishers:
“This is a welcome and necessary use of the European Union’s DMA authorities—particularly in light of misguided political attacks from the Trump administration and others who have tried to equate Europe’s digital regulation with censorship or anti-Americanism. In reality, these rules are essential to restoring fairness and transparency in digital markets, ensuring a level playing field for publishers, protecting the public’s access to reliable information, and cultivating a healthy information ecosystem that supports both press freedom and a pluralistic, economically sustainable media sector.
“The Commission’s concerns—that Google may be demoting news websites and failing to uphold its DMA obligations to apply transparent, fair, and non-discriminatory conditions in Google Search rankings—reflect yet another example of practices Big Tech firms like Google have repeatedly employed: using opaque “internal policies” to the detriment of businesses and citizens, and failing to learn from past antitrust proceedings.
“Limiting the visibility of publisher content tied to commercial partnerships undermines legitimate revenue streams for journalism, making it even harder for publishers to remain economically viable and connect with their audiences in monopolized information ecosystems. Google’s dominance across distribution, monetization, search, and audience visibility creates structural barriers that weaken both competition and democratic accountability.”
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The Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute works to ensure that the news media of the United States and our democratic allies is fully independent and robustly funded in the 21st century’s digital economy. The Center’s work is guided by the belief that government plays a fundamental role in structuring news media markets and business models to ensure that neither the state nor any one or few private actors control the words or actions of reporters, editors and publishers.